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RFU chief says Premiership 'nuclear option' is now 'on the table'
By PA
Bill Sweeney believes even the once “nuclear” option of central contracts for England players will be discussed to solve club rugby’s financial crisis.
The Rugby Football Union chief executive revealed central contracts and two-tier deals will be floated as part of wide-ranging plans to reshape the sport in England.
Sweeney pledged the RFU will keep thrashing out a way forward with Premiership Rugby (PRL), with Worcester in administration and Wasps poised to follow suit.
The RFU and PRL are already in talks on a new Professional Game Agreement (PGA), despite current terms not expiring until June 2024.
But with clubs racked with debt and benefactor owners adding the league’s main ballast, Sweeney wants radical changes to bring about self-sufficiency.
The RFU chief admitted in the darkest days of club-versus-country rows, the merest utterance of central contracts would have sparked internal war.
But the severity of rugby’s current plights means all parties are more open to major change than ever before.
When asked if central contracts could be an option to alleviate financial burden on cash-strapped clubs, Sweeney replied: “I think everything’s on the table to be discussed.
“And everyone who’s around the table wasn’t part of the old days when there was animosity between club and country. And this is a fresher set of eyes that are looking at it.
“But there are certain phrases that are like nuclear buttons, and the phrase ‘central contracts’ tends to have that nuclear effect.
“There are higher-level salaries for those playing for England, and then there’s the amount of time they spend playing for their club.
“So is there a different way that we can work with PRL and the clubs to mitigate the expense they are facing on that side of things and have a better structure in place? To achieve greater financial stability for the clubs and better preparedness for the national team.”
Asked if joint contracts shared between club and country could also work, Sweeney continued: “Possibly. And I would say that all of these possibilities are on the table, because of what’s happened.
“This has created an opportunity, albeit using a word like that doesn’t feel appropriate. But it’s a chance now to address ideas that have been knocking about for some time.”
Sweeney wants major governance reform in English club rugby, to stop another club going the way of Worcester and Wasps.
The former British Olympics Association chief conceded that the current checks and balances on potential club owners may not be tight enough.
Asked about tests carried out on prospective owners, Sweeney said: “I think that would come under the heading of regulatory control and governance reform.
“We do have a current fit and proper test, but is it fit and proper enough?
“We do need to look at everything coming out of this experience.
“There’s probably a question linked into that with Worcester and how did they pass that going back in time. But we’re looking at everything involved in this.
“And that fit and proper test, are you somebody who can prove reputability as a new owner, and can you also prove you can provide financial sustainability for a club? That’s something we need to look at very, very closely.
“We’ve had a look at it and we’ll have another look at it going forward.”
Worcester rugby director Steve Diamond understandably lamented the lack of intervention from either Premiership Rugby or the RFU as the Warriors went to the wall.
But Sweeney insisted the current regulations left the two governing bodies without the requisite power to take stronger action.
“I don’t think it’s accurate to say we stood to one side and let it all happen,” said Sweeney.
“We knew Worcester were in a precarious position because the winding-up petition was issued in August and it was October 5 when they had to pay the outstanding £6.5million debt to HMRC.
“We were not in a position to put them into administration prior to the season starting, nor were PRL. And that goes to issues around governance.
“The only body that could have done would have been DCMS (Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport) because of Government loans as a creditor, and they were reluctant to do that as they wanted to find a credible bidder.
“The issue is what could have been done and how do we change that going forward.”
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Stephen Larkham, Mick Byrne, Scott Wisental, Ben Mowen, Les Kiss, Jim McKay, Rod Kafer.
There are plenty of great Australian coaches who could do a better job than Schmidt.
Go to commentsThis piece is nothing more than the result of revisionist fancy of Northern Hemisphere rugby fans. Seeing what they want to see, helped but some surprisingly good results and a desire to get excited about doing something well.
I went back through the 6N highlights and sure enough in every English win I remembered seeing these exact holes on the inside, that are supposedly the fallout out of a Felix Jones system breaking down in the hands of some replacement. Every time the commentators mentioned England being targeted up the seam/around the ruck or whatever. Each game had a try scored on the inside of the blitz, no doubt it was a theme throughout all of their games. Will Jordan specifically says that Holland had design that move to target space he saw during their home series win.
Well I'm here to tell you they were the same holes in a Felix Jones system being built as well. This woe is now sentiment has got to stop. The game is on a high, these games have been fantastic! It is Englands attack that has seen their stocks increase this year, and no doubt that is what SB told him was the teams priority. Or it's simply science, with Englands elite players having worked towards a new player welfare and management system, as part of new partnership with the ERU, that's dictating what the players can and can't put their bodies through.
The only bit of truth in this article is that Felix is not there to work on fixing his defence. England threw away another good chance of winning in the weekend when they froze all enterprise under pressure when no longer playing attacking footy for the second half. That mindset helped (or not helped if you like) of course by all this knee jerk, red brained criticism.
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